It’s been a smaller gap between posts than I sometimes have, but it feels like it’s been awhile so I’ll give a not so brief recap. Last time we met, I had just arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam and was thoroughly charmed by this former French colonial capital. I can say that after leaving, I am still charmed but in a different manner. Flashback to Monday where I met up with the largest traveling group from Syracuse Hong Kong, there were seven of them (Elan, Marshall, Tyler, Sarah, Vanessa, Molly, & Amanda) and we just meandered through the city looking for a late lunch at the ambiguously named “Food Street” placed on the less than detailed map given to them by their hostel. Once there, there were many groans of disappointment, mostly because of the grimy deserted street we came to, but nonetheless they ordered food and I had a Hanoi beer (Having already eaten lunch), which quickly became my favorite beer since coming to Asia. We spent the rest of the day just getting lost in the maze of streets and the cacophonous noises coming from every direction. Motorbike horns. Yells of street vendors. Clink of metal shops. It’s what makes Hanoi Hanoi, what makes it so special. Monday night we again used the bad hostel map (Thank God this isn’t the Amazing Race) to find “Bar Street,” which was really three hole-in-the-wall places that happened to serve beer. We proceeded to spend a few hours drinking beer, playing cards and connect four and eventually this game called Thumper which closely resembled a gathering of seizure-prone hyperactive 12 year olds on crack.
Tuesday we woke early for our 2d/1n boat ride through the world renowned Halong Bay. Halong Bay is famous for its thousands of limestone, tree covered karsts which rise out of the water hundreds of feet in the air, creating ideal beaches and craggy caverns. After the four hour boat ride from hell, we got to Halong City, which is simpy the boat launch a few stands selling every imaginable kind of Pringle. Once on board we realized exactly how cold it was and spent the next few hours braving the wind for a top deck experience before comprehending that the indoor dining cabin had this awesome invention called windows. At about 4 o’clock everyone went on a group kayak ride. All I could think about is how we looked like some ridiculous Spanish armada of bright orange and blue kayaks, being propelled by rather drunk Australians and Irishmen. Somehow we, the college kids, remained the most sober people on board at almost any point over the next few days. They’ve been drinking for centuries, so we’re ok with it. Also, we won’t have liver cancer in five years. Bonus! The kayak ride was amazing, warm water to dip our feet in while gliding over the emerald water surrounded by skyscrapers of rock and skies of mist. We battled an armada of old people on kayaks, but made it to the caves and the awesome views they afforded, perfectly framing the karsts that stretched for as long as you could see. After returning from the Kayak, we all took jumps from the top of the boat into the water and spent some time in the water in the dark, which was fun…until having to get out into the brisk November air. I can say that there were a lot of people shivering throughout dinner. The rest of the night was spent getting to know our Anglo-Saxon brethren and listening to rivaling sounds of retro American 90’s pop and 80’s English rocker bands.
The rest of our time on the boat on Wednesday was spent eating, relaxing, playing every card game we could think of (I taught them Golf!) and eventually migrating to the roof deck when the sun came out. This was an especially fun time because it was on our way back to shore and we’d all somehow bonded and the drunkard Ollie (Ireland) led a chorus of Roxanne and then Don’t Stand So Close to Me. The ten of us cunning Americans (Sarah K and Nicole had joined for the boat) and two German rando’s figured out that if we got on the first boat to shore we could get the best bus seats so we quietly darted off the Jolly Roger and headed ashore to get our own private bus back. Once back in Hanoi, we relaxed at the happy hour thrown by their hostel and then some of our group left for Sapa in northern Vietnam. The rest of us had a delicious Italian meal, with bruschetta and great lasagna all for about US$8. Somehow we eventually ended up at an Irish pub (There’s apparently a lot of Irish expats in Hanoi) where they were really excited for the upcoming Irish-France World Cup Qualifying Match (Ireland lost). This is the night that we had the fateful decision to rent motorbikes the next day. Bad call.
Thursday, after sleeping in a bit, we finally got our motorbikes from the hostel and practiced driving a little. The main two instigators, and therefore drivers, were Tyler and Marshall and I was left with Tyler. I later found out Tyler didn’t even have his drivers license. Whoops. After scraping the back of three other motorbikes just getting out of our ally, Tyler continued to be shaky while we were following the renter to the gas station to fill up. Precisely at the moment we entered the busiest and most confusing intersection probably in all of Hanoi, Tyler gunned it a bit much and we spun and nearly tipped over, while tipping he pulled the throttle instead the break and we spun out even more, in the middle of traffic almost taking out a motor biker and bicyclist in the spasm. I couldn’t get back on right away (After a Vietnamese man comes up and goes “You better end this or you’re going to get yourself killed”) and so I hopped on the bike with our renter while Tyler rode with his assistant. After getting to the gas station and cooling down a little, Tyler got some more practice, while I just chatted with the renter guy. We eventually met up with Sarah and Marshall (Who had gotten lost) at the Flag Monument and Military History Museum, both of which were pretty good. We got to Ho Chi Minh’s Masoleum, but it was closed due to “Embalming Maintenance” (WTF?). We tried to get back to the hostel before rush hour, but we failed and we eventually had to walk the damn bike back because we couldn’t maneuver through the hundreds of bikers in the Old Quarter. It was a mentally exhausting day and something I’ll try but never be able to forget.
I’ll continue with Hoi An in a later post, because this one is already a beast. But Hoi An rocks and may be my favorite place I’ve visited yet. I’ll also post pictures soon.
